Rs.6 crore cash, 7kg gold haul in Bengaluru tax raids

Bengaluru : In surprise raids in Karnataka, Income Tax officials found and seized a whopping Rs 6 crore in cash and 7kg gold from the residences of two state government engineers and two contractors in the city, said an official on Thursday.

“Of the Rs.6 crore cash haul, Rs.4.7 crore were the Rs 2,000 new notes, Rs 30 lakh in the old Rs 500 notes and Rs 1 crore in lower denominations such as Rs 100 and Rs 50,” said Alex Mathew, Income Tax Officer of Karnataka in a statement here.

The 7 kg bullion valued at Rs 2 crore were found in a flat of a civil contractor.

The major haul was from a posh flat of Public Works Department engineer S.C. Jayachandra at upscale Sanjaynagar in the city’s northwest suburb.

“A search action was initiated on Wednesday by the investigation directorate in the case of two engineers and connected persons in Bengaluru, Chennai and Erode, in which the new notes and bullion are learnt to have been obtained by exchange of demonetised notes by payment of commission,” said Mathew in the statement.

The investigation is in progress and the search action is continuing in 10 premises across the three cities, including two in the neighbouring Tamil Nadu state.

The seizure of the new currency notes of Rs.2,000 is said to be the highest since it was introduced after the November 8 demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

The sleuths also attached a Lamborghini and Porsche limousines of Jayachandra, parked in the basement of his multi-storey apartment.